Department for Transport

Gatwick Airport

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans they have to reconsider expanding Gatwick airport in the light of comments by the Chief Executive of that airport.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Government continues to consider the large amount of very detailed analysis contained in the Airports Commission’s final report before taking any decisions on next steps.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their latest projection of the cost of HS2 at completion including motive power units and carriages.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Spending Review 2015 settlement announced by the Chancellor on 25 November sets out an updated funding envelope for delivering the HS2 project in 2015 prices of £55.7bn. This includes provision for rolling stock, including motive power. The underlying budget for this project has not changed. At SR13 we announced that the total budget was £50.1bn in 2011 prices and it has been uprated to 2015 prices.

Cycling: Licensing

Lord Wills: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the possible advantages and disadvantages of licensing bicyclists.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: We consider that the costs of a formal testing and licensing system for cyclists would significantly outweigh the benefits cycling has to the country’s economy, health and environment. Evidence suggests that increased cycling could create significant savings for the NHS, less pollution and congestion, and a happier and healthier population. It is likely that a licensing system will discourage many existing and potential cyclists, leading to a dramatic fall in the numbers of people cycling.Around 80% of adult cyclists also hold driving licenses, meaning that the majority of cyclists on the road have already been tested on operating safely in different road and traffic conditions. Furthermore, the safety case for a testing/licensing system is not as strong as that for drivers since, by contrast with motorised vehicles, bicycles involved in collisions on the highway are highly unlikely to cause serious injury to other road users.Cyclists as well as all road users must obey the Highway Code, and the Government has provided funding for training schemes such as Bikeability which provides practical training and teaches the Highway Code to the next generation of cyclists. The Bikeability programme currently trains approximately 50% of primary schoolchildren in England and more than 1.5million children have received training since the programme’s inception.The recent Spending Review committed £300m to cycling investment between 2015-16 and 2020-21, this includes delivering in full the £114 million Cycle Ambition City scheme, with construction of segregated cycle lanes including 115 kilometres in Birmingham and 56 kilometres in Manchester.

Cycling: Licensing

Lord Rowe-Beddoe: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the answer by Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon on 23 November (HL Deb, col 468), whether they will consider introducing a small annual licence fee and mandatory registration of all bicycles.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Government has no plans to introduce such measures.

Cycleways

Lord Crathorne: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have any plans to build bicycle tracks when new roads are constructed in the UK.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: Management of roads is a devolved issue so I can only respond in respect of roads in England.Highways England have committed to provide a safer, integrated and more accessible strategic road network for cyclists and other vulnerable road users, and will play a key role in ensuring that the ambition set for growth in cycling is fully supported by a dedicated programme of work to improve cycle facilities on or near our strategic road network.To support this, The Government has outlined a commitment to invest £100m between 2015/16 and 2020/21 to improve provision for cyclists on the strategic road network.On a local level, provision of cycling infrastructure is for local traffic authorities as they are responsible for managing their road networks. The Department encourages them to ensure cycling is considered as part of the process of planning new development.The Department for Transport’s Cycle Infrastructure Design guidance supports local authorities on providing cycle-safe infrastructure for cyclists. The Government will continue to support sustainable transport with a new £580 million ‘Access’ fund, with £80 million revenue and £500 million capital. This will build on the legacy of the Local Sustainable Transport Fund and support growth in both cycling and walking.

Global High-Level Conference on Road Safety

Lord Robertson of Port Ellen: To ask Her Majesty’s Government why no Minister or senior British representative attended the second global High-Level Conference on Road Safety in Brasilia, Brazil on 18–19 November.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The second global High-Level Conference on Road Safety in Brasilia, Brazil was attended by Deputy Head of Mission, Mr Wasim Mir.

Roads: Safety

Lord Robertson of Port Ellen: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what actions are planned in the UK to fulfil the objectives of reducing deaths and injuries on the roads included in the global Sustainable Development Goals.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Conservative Manifesto 2015 had a commitment to reduce the number of cyclists and other road users killed or injured on our roads every year. This commitment aligns with the Sustainable Development Goal of halving the number of road traffic deaths and injuries globally by 2020. We are working closely with road safety groups to consider what more can be done in the UK and we believe that every death is a tragedy and is one too many.

Bus Service Operators Grant

Baroness Kramer: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what was the amount of the Bus Service Operators Grant in (1) 2014–15, and (2) 2015–16.

Baroness Kramer: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the expected amount of the Bus Service Operators Grant in each financial year from 2016–17 to 2019–20 inclusive.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The amount of Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) paid out for services in England during 2014/15 was some £253 million. As BSOG is demand-led, it is too early to estimate accurately the amount likely to be paid out during 2015/16, although we would expect it to be broadly similar to that for 2014/15.The amount to be paid out in future years will depend upon the number of eligible claims submitted by the operators of bus services in each year.However, I can confirm that we were able to protect the grant as part of the 2015 Spending Review. Moreover, we will be publishing more details early next year of how we will be reforming the way BSOG is paid to make it even more effective in supporting bus services.

Biofuels

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the viability of biodiesel made from waste products in comparison to biodiesel made from virgin products.

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support they are giving to producers of biodiesel made from waste products.

Lord Ahmad of Wimbledon: The Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) provides double rewards for biofuels derived from wastes.The Department concluded a post-implementation review of the RTFO in April 2014. Evidence from the review indicates that double rewards for biofuels from wastes, which were introduced under the RTFO in 2011, have encouraged a strong market for biodiesel from used cooking oil in the UK.Since the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) was established waste based biofuels have risen from 12% of total biofuel supply in the first year of the obligation 2008/09, to 50% according to the data for 2014/15 (Biofuels Statistics obligation year 7 2014/15 - Report 5).

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Public Records

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are their plans to release files from their Special Collections archive during this Parliament.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Files outside the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) standard corporate file plan are now known as non-standard files.Estimated at around 600,000, the non-standard files are generally older than the standard departmental files.We have divided most of the non-standard material into four main categories in order to prioritise the preparation of these files for transfer to The National Archives (TNA): High Priority (around 60,000 files), Medium and Low priority (around 290,000 files across both categories) and a separate category for the Hong Kong government records (around 270,000 files). The Hong Kong records require further assessment before we can prioritise them for release (most are on microform).Our prioritisation of the non-standard files has taken into account feedback from a wide variety of sources and interested parties including Professor Tony Badger, Professor of History at Northumbria University, the Independent Reviewer of the non-standard files.We aim to prepare for transfer to TNA all high priority non-standard files (10% of the total) by 2019.The first of the high priority records have now been released at TNA. They include 445 Colonial Reports, which are bound volumes of reports submitted annually to the Colonial Office by colonial governors. In October 2015, 254 files relating to the defection of Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean were released to the public.Our current estimate is that we will be able to prepare the medium and low priority records for transfer to TNA by 2027.The FCO is committed to complying with the Public Records Act and to full transparency with respect to our record holdings.

UN Committee on Disarmament and International Security

Lord Judd: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how far they expect proposals in the report of the earlier Open Ended Working Group of 2015 in Geneva, and developed in working papers to the 2015 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, to provide a basis for identifying which of those proposals could be negotiated in time to be submitted to the 2016 UN General Assembly in order to prepare for substantial negotiations to begin in 2017.

Baroness Anelay of St Johns: Any Open Ended Working Group mandated to address the issue of nuclear disarmament should consider proposals and papers related to this issue from previous UN and Non Proliferation Treaty meetings and should take a consensus-based approach that takes into account the wider global security environment. We remain open to an appropriately-mandated Open Ended Working Group provided that it is conducive to a constructive dialogue and we are considering whether to attend the meeting in Geneva in 2016.

Department for Education

Classroom Assistants and Teachers

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what are the latest figures available for the proportion of (1) male, and (2) female (a) teachers, and (b) teaching assistants in (i) primary, and (ii) secondary, schools in the UK.

Lord Nash: The requested information is set out in the following table. This is based on data collected in November 2014 for the School Workforce Census. The following table shows the proportion of full-time equivalent (FTE) male and female teachers and teaching assistants in primary and secondary state-funded schools in England.(a) Teachers1(b) Teaching Assistants2(1) Male(2) Female(1) Male(2) Female(i) Primary15%85%5%95%(ii) Secondary38%62%17%83%All26%74%9%91%Source: School Workforce CensusTeacher numbers include all regular qualified and unqualified, covering classroom and all leadership grades.Teaching Assistants include higher level teaching assistants, special needs support staff, minority ethnic pupils support staff and other staff with pupil support roles.Equivalent figures for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are a matter for the relevant Devolved Administration.

Schools

Lord Storey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many local authority schools have opened in the last five years.

Lord Nash: On 1 February 2011 the Education Act 2011 amended the Education and Inspections Act 2006 to change the arrangements for establishing new schools. Most new schools are now established via the academy/free school presumption.182 local authority maintained schools have opened since 01 January 2011.

Schools: Asbestos

Lord Alton of Liverpool: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what consideration they are giving to the risks posed by asbestos in schools and the safest ways to deal with those risks.

Lord Nash: The Government takes the risks posed by asbestos in schools extremely seriously.In March 2015, under the coalition government, the Department published a review of its policy on asbestos management in schools and the risks posed.The department is led in its consideration of asbestos risks and the safest way to deal with these by the expert advice from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE). They advise that it is best to manage asbestos-containing materials in situ, reviewing their risk assessments by monitoring condition and likelihood of disturbance, and repairing or encapsulating as necessary. Removal may be needed where asbestos is damaged or when refurbishment work demands prior removal.The department continues to take steps to understand the risks posed by asbestos in schools even better. As a result of the review the department has committed to collect data from schools about how they manage their asbestos and also to exploring ways to improve the evidence on the risk posed by asbestos in schools. In addition, the Asbestos in Schools Steering Group advises the department on some of the particular issues schools face in managing their asbestos.

Ministry of Justice

European Convention on Human Rights: Northern Ireland

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Answer by Lord Faulks on 18 November (HL Deb, col 133), what is their assessment of whether they have the power under section 26 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 to give direction to the devolved institutions in Northern Ireland to secure their compliance with the European Human Rights Conventions; and whether the Secretary of State has considered exercising any such power to secure full compliance in Northern Ireland with its obligations under the Convention in relation to equal marriage, blasphemy and defamation.

Lord Faulks: Under section 26 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 (NIA) the Secretary of State may by order direct that action be taken by a Northern Ireland Minister or department if required for the purpose of giving effect to international obligations. However, international obligations in this context are defined as “any international obligations of the United Kingdom other than obligations to observe and implement EU law or the Convention rights” (Section 98 of the NIA). As such, the power under section 26 cannot be used for the purpose of bringing about action in Northern Ireland to comply with the European Convention on Human Rights.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

UN Convention for Protection of Cultural Property in Event of Armed Conflict

The Earl of Clancarty: To ask Her Majesty’s Government when they will introduce legislation to ratify the 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict and its two Protocols.

Baroness Neville-Rolfe: The Government remains committed to bringing forward legislation to ratify the Hague Convention and accede to its two Protocols at the first opportunity.

Department for Work and Pensions

Personal Independence Payment

Baroness Thomas of Winchester: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of their aim to halve the number of unemployed disabled people, whether they will conduct a review into the way the Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessment for enhanced rate mobility is working; and on what grounds they would consider changing the PIP assessment for enhanced rate mobility.

Baroness Thomas of Winchester: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the scoring system for the Personal Independence Payment assessment for enhanced rate mobility is compatible with enabling more disabled people to work, particularly in rural areas.

Baroness Altmann: The Government is committed to giving all disabled people the opportunity to fulfil their potential and achieve their ambitions. Work is an important part of this, which is why the Government has committed to halving the disability employment gap, requiring us to transform policy, practice and public attitudes.Enhanced rate mobility payments within Personal Independence Payment are intended for those who face the greatest barriers to their mobility. We believe that the assessment criteria, which was designed in close consultation with disabled people and disability groups, achieve this by targeting support to those who need it most.We currently have no plans to review how the PIP assessment for enhanced rate mobility is working.Access to Work (ATW) provides practical and financial support with the additional costs faced by individuals whose health or disability affects the way they do their job. The type of support provided is tailored to an individual’s needs and can include travel to work, support workers and specialist aids and equipment.

Personal Independence Payment

Baroness Thomas of Winchester: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how they plan to ensure that disabled people who used their motability car to work are able to carry on working if, after a Personal Independence Payment assessment, they lose entitlement to a Motability car and cannot afford to buy their own car.

Baroness Thomas of Winchester: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they are monitoring the numbers of disabled people who have had to give up work after a Personal Independence Payment assessment led to the loss of a Motability car.

Baroness Altmann: We recognise that the transition from DLA to PIP can be challenging for individuals, which is why the Department worked closely with Motability as we developed our plans for the introduction of PIP. The Motability charity provide a one-off package of transitional support and advice to support customers who no longer meet the eligibility criteria for the Motability scheme. For most of these customers who entered into their first lease agreement with Motability before January 2013, Motability will provide transitional support of £2,000. This will enable many former Scheme customers to continue to meet their mobility needs by purchasing a used car. For customers who entered into their first lease agreement with the scheme after January 2013 and up to December 2013, Motability will supply transitional support of £1,000 to assist with mobility costs. Motability is also providing help with the cost of adaptations made to non-scheme vehicles and information on non-scheme motoring and insurance. The Scheme also offers customers an opportunity to purchase their vehicle after the end of the lease.Support is also available through the Access to Work Scheme, which is potentially available on application to anyone with a health condition or disability that affects the way they perform their job and who needs practical support above and beyond the reasonable adjustments that an employer has a duty to make under the Equality Act 2010. The type of support Access to Work provides is tailored to an individual’s needs and can include travel to work.DLA and PIP are available regardless of whether claimants are in or out of work. We do not hold information about the employment circumstances of recipients of either benefit, including those who are members of Motability.

New Businesses: Disability

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what support is available for disabled entrepreneurs.

Baroness Altmann: Anyone, including disabled people, can apply for financial and practical help through the Government’s Start Up Loans scheme.Access to Work, which helps people with a disability or health condition to stay in work or start work, now features a new specialist self-employment team to support entrepreneurs and the self-employed.Unemployed potential entrepreneurs, including those with disabilities or health conditions, can talk to their Jobcentre Plus Work Coach, or where appropriate, Disability Employment Adviser (DEA), regarding national programmes like Work Choice, Work Programme and the new Specialist Employability Support. These programmes offer tailored services which can include practical support and advice for becoming self-employed.Work coaches can also refer claimants, including disabled clients, to the New Enterprise Allowance (NEA). Over 73,000 new businesses have started up through the scheme and 20% of NEA business starts have been made by disabled people. Disabled jobseekers who are accepted onto the NEA scheme may also be entitled to receive an Access to Work grant.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Acute Oak Decline

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the spread of Acute Oak Decline in the UK.

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many oak trees have been killed by Acute Oak Decline in the past five years.

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what research they have conducted into the bacterial infection spread by the Agrilus biguttatus beetle.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: Over the past five years Forest Research, in collaboration with Rothamsted Research, has conducted a systematic survey to model the distribution of acute oak decline (AOD) in England and Wales. The results show that the condition currently affects several thousand oak trees, mostly across East Anglia, the Midlands and southern England.The complex nature of the condition means it is often associated with other pathogens, as well as insect defoliators and the research has not yet concluded whether AOD kills trees or not. A large proportion of the infected trees monitored have entered remission suggesting some level of host resistance. We do not have information at the landscape level on the number of oak with AOD symptoms that die every year.Since 2013, Defra has invested £1.1 million in research to understand the causes, distribution and scale of AOD in the UK. This includes work to investigate the bacterial species associated with the condition and to understand whether the Agrilus biguttatus beetle plays a role in the dispersal of these bacterial species. Early findings from this research are still inconclusive. There is currently no firm evidence of transmission by the beetle.Earlier this year, Defra in collaboration with the Research Councils, Scottish Government and the Forestry Commission launched a further £2 million call for research proposals on ‘oak health’ and Phytophthora. The successful bids from this call are due to be announced shortly.

Common Agricultural Policy

Lord Tebbit: To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Gardiner of Kimble on 16 November (HL3254), what is the UK share of the Common Agricultural Policy budget for 2015 in percentage and cash terms respectively.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble: In 2015, the UK was allocated 7% of the Common Agricultural Policy budget which is equivalent to €4 billion.

Home Office

Propaganda: Islamic State

Lord West of Spithead: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether any work is underway to undermine Islamic State's propaganda on social media, and how much money has been allocated to that work.

Lord Bates: Extremist and terrorist organisations such as Da’esh use social media and other internet tools to spread fear, disseminate propaganda and persuade individuals to join their groups and support their aims.The Government’s Prevent strategy is focused on preventing people from being drawn into terrorism by challenging the terrorists’ ideology and supporting those vulnerable to its appeal.As part of Prevent, our dedicated police unit supports industry to remove, on average, 1,000 pieces of terrorist-related internet content per week. The Research, Information and Communication Unit (RICU) also helps build the capacity of civil society groups to confront and challenge the ideology of terrorism and extremism. By bringing civil society groups together with communications professionals and industry experts, it has provided them with advice and support, production capabilities, public relations expertise and social media training.British Muslim communities are playing a leading role in the fight against Da’esh’s poisonous narrative. This work, which allows them to share their alternative message more widely, is specifically aimed at undermining Da’esh’s propaganda.The threat of Da’esh is global and RICU is working closely with international partners and others to develop similar approaches.The Prevent programme has been allocated £65 million for the 2015/2016 financial year.

Refugees

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what discussions they are having with the Scottish Government, Welsh Government, and the Northern Ireland Executive, in order to enable the welcoming of the maximum number of refugees.

Lord Bates: The UK Government is discussing and engaging closely with the Scottish Government, the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to ensure that each is able to welcome refugees who will be resettled under the Syrian resettlement programme. We are also represented on the task forces in each of the devolved administrations.

Care Homes: Children

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many files from children's homes in London that were previously supervised by the Home Office remain unopened because they are marked "not for opening"; to which homes they relate; and how long those files have been closed.

Lord Bates: Following a machinery of government change in the early 1970s, Home Office files relating to children’s home inspections were transferred to the Department for Health and Social Security. There are 49 files with ‘children’s home’ and ‘London’ in the catalogue description dating from 1931 onwards that are held at The National Archives. Details of the files, including whether they are closed, can be found through a search of The National Archives catalogue. Most are closed for 75 years from the date they went out of active use as they contain sensitive personal information where release would distress or endanger an individual who was a minor at the time the file was in use.

HM Treasury

Public Expenditure: Northern Ireland

Lord Empey: To ask Her Majesty’s Government by how much they estimate the budget of the Northern Ireland Executive will be reduced annually as a consequence of the decision to introduce a reduced rate of Corporation Tax in Northern Ireland in 2018–19.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: The government is committed to devolving corporation tax powers as provided for by the Corporation Tax (Northern Ireland) Act 2015, if the Northern Ireland parties meet their commitments in the Stormont House Agreement. This includes the Northern Ireland Executive demonstrating that its finances are on a sustainable footing for the long term.The government is working closely with the Executive to agree a fair adjustment to the block grant covering both the direct and behavioural effects of devolution. Ultimately, however, the impact on the Executive’s budget will depend on the rate set by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Public Sector: Borrowing

Lord Kennedy of Southwark: To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the net level of borrowing by the public sector in October 2015.

Lord O'Neill of Gatley: The government has made significant progress to date in reducing borrowing – the deficit has more than halved as a share of GDP since 2009-10 and as the latest Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast shows, the national debt as a share of GDP is forecast to be falling this year for the first time in over a decade. October public sector finance figures show government borrowing is falling, down £6.6 billion so far this year compared to last year. However, the job is not yet done. The government is committed to eliminating the deficit and returning the public finances to a more sustainable path. To achieve this, the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015 sets out the action required to return the country to surplus over the course of this Parliament.  On the basis of these plans, the latest OBR forecast estimates that borrowing in 2015-16 will be on a like-for-like basis £73.5bn, £0.6bn lower relative to Summer Budget. The forecast also shows the government is on track to meet its fiscal targets, with a budget surplus of £10.1bn by 2019-20 and debt falling as a percentage of GDP in 2015-16 and for each year in this Parliament.